As mounting space is usually at a premium in supermarkets and grocery stores, it is desirable to have bag dispensing systems that use a minimum of such space, are adaptable to a variety of dispenser mounting systems and provide means for keeping bags neat and orderly in the store. Roll mounted bag systems, typically used for fresh produce, can help with limited space problems when they are designed to use folded bags. These relatively large bags are folded two to four times along vertical or horizontal axes and then formed into compact rolls. The bags are typically joined to one another using perforations. Some bags, known as star-sealed bags are folded twice and then sealed across their bottom edges. This produces a bag with an extremely strong bottom.
When using roll mounted bags, it is critical that the bags are correctly loaded into the bag dispenser and that the bag roll cannot accidently leave the dispenser when a user attempts to pull a bag from the roll. Should this happen, the bag roll could end up on the floor of store, providing a potentially hazardous condition. It is even possible for a bag roll to fly out of the dispenser and strike a grocery patron when he attempts to pull a bag from the roll. Dispensers for roll mounted bags should ideally provide a means to insure that the bag roll will remain in the dispenser. Some examples of dispensers for roll mounted bags and related inventions include the following.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,019, issued to Morris, discloses a bag separator and dispenser used for separating and dispensing plastic bags linked together to form a roll structure. The bags are linked one to another by means of perforation lines and are dispensed from a wire frame structure with channels that support the core or axle of the rolled bags.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,279,806, issued to Simhaee is directed to a plastic bag dispenser in which the mounting plate is not perpendicular to the slots which receive the rolled bags on the axle.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2011/0073629, published for Tseng illustrates a plastic grocery bag dispenser with side panels and guide bar. The attachment means is connected to the bottom section which is attached to the plastic bag dispenser. The bottom section is at an angle to the roll mounting slots that exist in order to accommodate the roll of bags rotating about the axle and resting on the sides.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,585, issued to Simhaee is directed to a dispenser for plastic bags. The mounting section is at an angle with respect to slots that would accept the roll of plastic bags that rests upon and rotates about an axis while supported by the sides of the dispenser.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,953, issued to Simhaee is directed to a plastic bag dispenser which holds a continuous roll of bags connected by perforated separation lines. The roll of bags rests in curved grooves in the dispenser that cause the roll to abut and frictionally engage an interior surface of the dispenser, preventing free-wheeling of the roll. The curvature of the grooves causes the component of force which creates the frictional engagement to increase as the size of the roll decreases. The mounting means is supported by the pole that is positioned at an angle to the grooves which are mounted with respect to the vertical orientation of the dispenser. The roll of bags is mounted in the dispenser so that the roll frictionally engages an interior surface of the dispenser, thus allowing a bag to be removed and separated from the roll while the frictional force prevents the unwinding of the roll.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,488,222, issued to West et al. discloses a dispensing system that utilizes a roll of folded-gusseted bags in combination with a dispenser comprising: (i) a support member for attachment to a support surface; (ii) a pair of guide channels carried by the support member for rotatably supporting the roll of plastic bags for rotation of the roll on the core; (iii) a tongue spaced apart from and carried by the support member in a predetermined position corresponding to the predetermined position of the slit in the tear line.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,535, issued to Kannankeril et al. discloses a bag dispensing system providing plastic bags from a roll of bags where one end is attached to the top of the next bag by perforation lines with a slot therebetween. The roll of bags provides a core having an indexing member on at least one end. The dispenser comprising a wire frame formed into channels to support the core. The channels include a core retaining member for restraining the core in the channel. The dispenser includes at least one brake attached to a support member and disposed at an angle thereto to provide tension to the edges of the roll of bags as the core passes through the channel passageway as bags are removed from the roll.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a bag dispensing system that provides large size film bags that are folded and provided as compact bag rolls. It is a further objective to provide a system that keeps the bag roll securely within the dispenser at all times. It is a still further objective of the invention to provide a dispensing system adaptable to a variety of different mountings. It is yet a further objective to provide such a system that provides a visual indication of the need to refill the dispenser. Finally, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a bag dispensing system that is durable, inexpensive, easy to keep clean and simple to use.
While some of the objectives of the present invention are disclosed in the prior art, none of the inventions found include all of the requirements identified.